Senegalese Constitutional Council announced the final list of 20 candidates for the presidential election scheduled for Feb 25.
Only Karim Wade, the son of former President Abdoulaye Wade, was dropped from the provisional list of 21 candidates published on Jan 13 on the grounds that his “candidacy is inadmissible,” according to a document of the council.
Incumbent Prime Minister Amadou Ba and his two predecessors — Idrissa Seck and Mahammed Boun Abdallah Dionne — are on the final list.
Incumbent President Macky Sall, who has served two consecutive terms (2012-2024), will not take part in the election.
Senegalese Prime Minister Amadou Ba promised to lead the country towards “greater peace and prosperity” as the ruling party officially tapped him to replace incumbent Macky Sall.
Sall, who took power in 2012 and is not standing for a third term, had designated Ba his preferred successor, an endorsement confirmed by the Alliance for the Republic party’s delegates on Thursday as they named him their candidate for the February poll.
“I am honoured to tell you that I accept to be your candidate,” Ba said at the ceremony in a Dakar hotel attended by the ruling party and its allies.
Ba, a former tax inspector, has served as prime minister since September 2022. Previously, he was a minister of foreign affairs and minister of economy and finance.
The 62-year-old has been tipped by analysts as a favourite to win the West African nation’s election, but faces a crowded field.
Sall, speaking at the nomination ceremony, praised Ba’s “exceptional” track record, but warned of the difficulties ahead.
“The first challenge facing you will be the challenge of illegal migration and youth employment through new mechanisms to be invented,” he said.
The published list of candidates also includes two women, gynaecologist Rose Wardini and entrepreneur Anta Babacar Ngom.
It is the first time Senegal has organised a presidential election with so many candidates. There were five candidates during the previous contest in 2019.
Karim Wade, who served as a minister when his father was in power, was excluded as his candidacy was deemed “inadmissible” because of his dual French and Senegalese nationality, according to the Constitutional Council.
According to the constitution, presidential candidates “must be exclusively of Senegalese nationality” and aged between 35 and 75 on election day.
Wade, who was born in France to a Senegalese father and a mother of French origin, had presented documents showing he had renounced his French nationality.
But the council rejected them, saying the decree confirming his loss of French nationality was “not retroactive” and his sworn declaration was “inexact” at the time of its filing
The council’s list of approved candidates includes Sall’s hand-picked successor, Prime Minister Amadou Ba, former Dakar mayor Khalifa Sall, and former prime minister Idrissa Seck.
It said opposition firebrand Sonko’s bid was ineligible due to a suspended sentence linked to a defamation case.
Sonko, 49, has been battling various court cases since 2021 and the authorities deny his accusations they are politically motivated, although public backlash to his treatment has fuelled unrest.